Non-volatile memory cells are well known in the art. One prior art non-volatile memory cell 10 is shown in FIG. 1. The memory cell 10 comprises a semiconductor substrate 12 of a first conductivity type, such as P type. The substrate 12 has a surface on which there is formed a first region 14 (also known as the source line SL) of a second conductivity type, such as N type. A second region 16 (also known as the drain line) also of N type is formed on the surface of the substrate 12. Between the first region 14 and the second region 16 is a channel region 18. A bit line BL 20 is connected to the second region 16. A word line WL 22 is positioned above a first portion of the channel region 18 and is insulated therefrom. The word line 22 has little or no over lap with the second region 16. A floating gate FG 24 is over another portion of the channel region 18. The floating gate 24 is insulated therefrom, and is adjacent to the word line 22. The floating gate 24 is also adjacent to the first region 14. A coupling gate CG (also known as control gate) 26 is over the floating gate 24 and is insulated therefrom. An erase gate EG 28 is over the first region 14 and is adjacent to the floating gate 24 and the coupling gate 26 and is insulated therefrom. The erase gate 28 is also insulated from the first region 14. The cell 10 is more particularly described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,868,375 whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Although U.S. Pat. No. 7,868,375 discloses the application of a negative voltage to the coupling gate 26 of the memory cell 10 during the erase operation, the reference does not disclose the benefit of applying a negative voltage to other gates during other operations such as read and program.
Accordingly, one object of the present invention is the disclosure of a non-volatile memory cell device that applies a negative voltage to other gates or terminals during other operations.